On his official YouTube channel, Peter Gabriel recently dropped the eleventh track, ‘And Still,’ from his upcoming studio album, ‘i/o,’ and opened up about the personal tragedy behind it.
The singer explained, revealing how the song came about:
“I wrote a song for my dad a number of years back, which I was actually able to play him, which was ‘Father Son,’ and then when my mom died, I wanted to do something for her, but it took a while. She died about six years ago, and it’s taken a while just before I felt comfortable and distant enough to be able to write something.”
Peter’s Emotional Connection To ‘And Still’
Gabriel went on to disclose the importance of ‘And Still’ to him:
“So it’s full of childhood memories but some of which are good, enjoyable, positive and some of which obviously sad, dealing with loss. It’s a sort of elegy of sorts, but I was trying to get some of the warmth because I think that’s where the music came from: my mom, but also, she was very compassionate, and it was that with people and with animals.”
His Attempt To Capture The Style Of His Parents’ Music
The former Genesis vocalist also added:
“I was also trying to write a little bit in the style of the music that my parents responded to, so I think there is some music from the ’40s probably that had an influence on the song. In the middle, I wanted to write my mum a beautiful melody. She loved classical music, so we have a beautiful cello playing there. It took a while to get that right. It can’t be too emotional or too underplayed, but I think we got there in the end. “
Previous Releases From ‘i/o’
He released the tenth song ‘This Is Home’ last month on September 29, and the previous track ‘Love Can Heal’ on August 31. The rocker said the following about ‘Love Can Heal’ on his YouTube channel:
“‘Love Can Heal’ is very much about connection and being connected to everything, and perhaps, the next evolution of that is a feeling of love for everything. I was trying sensual to create this sort of palette… I think with the work Buff’s been doing on the immersive mix, you’re getting this sense of being touched in many places, and it should be a place just to drift off; and I think, that’s my aim.”
The twelfth track from ‘i/o,’ named ‘Live and Let Live’ will be released on November 27. The album, on the other hand, will hit the shelves on December 1.
You can watch his video and listen to the song below.
